Multiple Challenges of Flexible Workforce Management: the contract managers experience

Abstract

This article presents the results of a survey that had the purpose to evaluate the human resources (HR) practices adopted by a Brazilian industrial corporation from the viewpoint of contracting out managers to deal with four flexible workforce management challenges: qualification; quality; commitment; standardization of outsourcing services. These HR practices are still little discussed by scholars. So, this is the main contribution of this article. It is also virtually nonexistent in the literature studies that encompass analysis about HR practices to deal with major challenges of outsourcing throughout the viewpoint of contracting out managers. We performed 15 semi-structured interviews with contracting out managers. It was also performed a documental analysis about the rules of outsourcing practices of the corporation. We found management practices to deal with each of the four challenges presented. The management of contracts and the provision of training programs were the most prominent of the related practices. The results show that Brazillian labor laws contribute to the segregation of temporary workers, because the companies avoid a more direct relationship fearing legal constraints. Although several efforts were put to improve the work conditions of the flexible workforce, these workers are still stigmatized, seen and treated as less important than direct employers; this causes negative impacts on commitment. The decision to use flexible workforce by companies is still mainly due to cost savings. Therefore, there is still a long way to improve HR practices related to temporary workers in order to avoid losses for all the social actors envolved.